And if that’s not enough to slake your thirst for filibuster wonkery — and how could it be! — here’s an extended audio interview with Packer about his piece.

Of course the prospects for rules reform dimmed considerably after the mid-term elections, but this problem isn’t going away. You better believe Republicans will axe the filibuster the first chance they get.

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The Senate's not working because it doesn't take any work to stop it from working -- and that's what the Republicans are interested in doing. Current rules make stopping the Senate from doing its work the easiest thing in the world to do. That's got to change.

The Senate clearly isn't working, and the frustration is being felt outside and inside the body. I challenge my colleagues and all of you to support my Constitutional option for changing the rules and making the Senate function again.

The filibuster stands today as the single most important impediment to the significant reforms needed in America's climate/energy policies, its immigration policies, its labor law policies, and its need for a functioning judiciary. But beyond that, the filibuster has become a critical force undermining the workings of democratic accountability.